On net neutrality, Cohen says that activists calling on the FCC to reclassify the Internet as a so-called Title II common carrier service that could be more easily regulated would be disappointed in the result. “There is nothing in Title II that provides authority for saying that all [Web] services have to be treated the same” — in other words, preventing Internet providers such as Comcast from offering a for-pay fast lane for certain content providers. Telecommunications companies now deemed common carriers “are allowed to provide different levels of service for different amounts of money.” A change also could backfire: “There’s no way Google is going to invest the money they’d need to invest” in Google Fiber if the Web is a Title II service, he says. “It’s inconceivable that any company would do that.” Meanwhile, those who object to Wheeler’s attempt to set net neutrality rules under the current legal structure are “reacting to a document they haven’t seen….It’s been the specter that’s been stirred up by the net roots.”

Cohen says that the days of all-you-can-eat Internet pricing are numbered, potentially posing a threat to heavy volume services such as Netflix. “People who use more should pay more, and people who use less should pay less.” Comcast likely will have usage-based or tiered pricing across its systems in five years, he says — although the data caps will be high enough so that most customers probably won’t notice them. The company will move slowly because “we have no desire to blow up our high speed data business. We don’t want to chase our customers away.”

Recent Comments

Baloney Old guy. Netflix pays millions to their own ISP to deliver their data to the junction...

Haus

11 months

This is flat out wrong and you're either very mislead or just plain lying. There are reports...

Haus

11 months

Smart doesn't equate to infallable. It just means it'll be easier for him to tell believable lies...

He took issue, though, with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings’ claim that Comcast unfairly required the streaming service to pay a fee in order to provide smooth transmissions to the cable company’s Internet customers. “He would like free transit….I don’t blame him,” Cohen says. But he adds that there are expenses to maintain the broadband system and “Reed’s argument that he should have free transit is just a cost shifting argument….If Netflix doesn’t bear its share of those costs then we have no choice but to raise prices for everyone else.”

Cohen has repeatedly said that he believes federal officials will approve Comcast’s plan to buy TWC — and added today that he doesn’t see that changing if AT&T agrees to buy DirecTV or Sprint reaches a deal with T-Mobile. Although “the popular press” might link consolidation deals, the FCC and Justice Department appreciate that “each transaction has to stand on its own merits.” And AT&T might have a tougher time getting past regulators because its U-verse video service and DirecTV “overlap in 25% of the country” while Comcast and TWC “don’t compete for any customer.”

34 Comments

evil, greedy suit • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

I look forward to this man losing his job as a result of the PR firestorm these comments will engender.

frankofile • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

A “remarkably thoughtful” discussion that just happens to reaffirm all of Comcast’s positions that will do away with net neutrality, and characterizes its critics as “hysterical.” And they will move slowly before they gouge us more.

Roy • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

It isn’t free transit, it’s simply how the internet works. If you have paying customers who wish to access a site, it’s in your agreement that you will deliver them with access to said site. Netflix also pays their share on their networks to ensure the pipes remain clear for any incoming request. Comcast saying Netflix needs to pay them for Comcast customers to access Netflix servers is what irks a majority of the internet at this time. They’ve taken the most traveled six lane highway on the internet, merged it down to one lane and turned the other 5 into express toll roads. It has nothing to do with capability or cost to them, it is merely their way to finding new ways to make money now that people are tuning out of cable, and it sets a terrible precedent.

But it’s alright I suppose since their time as a big player appears to be limited.

cue the violins • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Comcast should thank Netflix for generating demand for high-speed internet and giving Comcast a business. Poor Comcast, now they actually have to deliver the speed they promised and that people pay for? The nerve!

Educated Mind • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

The continued efforts of Comcast and Time Warner to create “toll lanes” on the internet super highway only serves to erode their consumer base. Netflix is allowing the giants to play the fool, as they try to make any last desperate money grabs that they can on their way down. And so is Google. Google continues to build Google Fiber while not even once commenting on regulating the internet. But this is not the end of this grand saga…..the new issue will be Household Caps, putting a limit on the amount of data usage allotted to each household so that they can keep people form streaming “too much”. That will be the final nail in the coffin.

Google is letting the fools talk while they build their massive infrastructure, and soon enough they will come in guns blazing with a service that cannot be matched in way, shape or form by Time Warner or Comcast. Also, it is apparent to me that Google is quietly building their own TV network, that will consist of purely original content suited for a world audience, ready for anyone in the world to watch as soon as they plug in their computer. It is going to be mind blowing.

Th eOld Guy • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

So if you take Netflix out of the picture, then the prolbem goes away? Look, if I want Netflix, then I know I have to pay extra for it, inf act they just raised their prices. They need to pay their way, and that is either by reduced profits or increased cost. I hate to tell you all that have not figured it out yet, but the Internet is and always has been a toll road. You pay to use it. Until now the speed issues consumers had were masked by the business users that really paid to build the backbone for high speeds, and you a only had to pay for, and the ISPs concern, was he “last mile.” Now with a Netfliz type service, it is all the way from point A to you at Point B – at the end of the last mile. Now, doesn’t seem exactly fair that if the ISPs paid for and built the high speed backbone, that a Netflix type service not pay something for it. AND in the end, users pay the costs regardless, Netflix would rather ISPs raise THEIR prices, not Netflix. It would hurt their business model and lower their profits. They like the free ride. Bottom line – as a user, I want low cost high speeds and I decide on extras (like Netflix) that cost me.

Haus • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

They use Netflix as a scapegoat (who just happens to be a direct competitor to them). Netflix is a Content Provider and Comcast is your Internet Service Provider. Netflix holds up their end of the deal and provides their service, but Comcast doesn’t want to do what you pay them to do and deliver their content, so they’re trying to double dip and charge both ends of the connection. It’s like UPS charging both the sender and reciver of a package, or the USPS charging you to deliver spam mail.

A third of internet traffic is pornography, so by their own logic they should be going after porn companies instead of netflix.

Also, those data caps some people are so fond of, they’re also a bait and switch. Verizon, for example, advertises they got the fastest mobile speeds and you can get 30mbps and everything. Well, their highest data plan is 5GB. At 30mbps, their advertised speed, the highest data plan they offer will only last you twenty minutes. The data speed IS the data cap by limiting how much traffic you can use, but then they come along afterward and trick you into accepting a much, much, lower bandwidth deal.

John • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Baloney Old guy. Netflix pays millions to their own ISP to deliver their data to the junction between them and comcast. Comcast customers pay for that data to cross comcast networks from the junsction to the customer. Comcast is simply making Netflix pay a second time for bandwidth that comcasts customer already paid for.

This is the cable TV model they enjoy today. They fleece cable TV customers with high priced channel lineups, then the extort the channel station to pay them to even be in their channel lineup. They want to do this with the whole internet now. They need to become common carriers so third parties can sell internet service over their network and we’ll actually have competition and choice, and not be locked into a single monopoly cable company controlling what websites we can see.

and it won't stop there • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

You want a hysterical reaction? Try opening up a $250 Comcast bill. If Comcast can make that happen with monopoly control, they were.

The Wild Sage 20/20 • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

unfortunately, those of us from Philly know that David Cohen is the most prepared and smartest person in room.
what he sez is true and like it or not, it is coming.

Rod • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Might be smart and prepared but pure evil that deserves to fail.

Haus • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Smart doesn’t equate to infallable. It just means it’ll be easier for him to tell believable lies if it suits his interests.

MS • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

i love how these guys always lean on the threat of “if x happens we’ll have to raise prices for the consumer.” prices can only ever be as high as what the market will bear. it’s supply and demand. they’re just assuming that if they raise prices we’ll agree to pay, but the reality is they’ll probably just lose a bunch of customers. this is why we need competition. imagine if there was only one airline in the U.S. they’d be charging us “oxygen fees.”

rob • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

can we say Monopoly. the FCC needs to shut this and the A T & T merger down. There will be no choice

just a thought • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

I live in a rare area where there is actual competition among ISPs so I dumped Comcast in favor of Sonic, which miraculously manages to provide me with perfectly good Netflix streaming without gouging me or blackmailing Netflix.

Comcast should look into how Sonic manages this amazing feat! Maybe by not being insanely, stupidly greedy and then crying about how they’re being “forced” into it because their poor widdle system just can’t stand the terrible strain Netflix is putting on them?

JDL • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Netflix is paying to get its content on the Internet through a better than standard pipeline and your local service has nothing to do with that.

Haus • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

This is flat out wrong and you’re either very mislead or just plain lying.

There are reports everywhere of Netflix’s service deteriorating only on certain ISPs, and by their own admissions they went back to normal once they caved to what some would call their extortion.

There’s even someone in the comments here who is lucky enough to have more than one option with their ISP, and according to them all their issues went away once they stopped using Comcast.

Mind you in most places Comcast is only your doorway to the internet, after you go through their gateway you use other people’s backbones and they all share their networks neutrally. For now at least.

Sam • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

This is so scary especially because Comcast also own NBCU and part of Hulu. Will their streaming offerings on NBC.com, Hulu, and the myriad of other sites that offer video pay the exact same “fast lane” fees. Who will monitor? A customer deserves equal access to all sites they want to visit. All of this exacerbates why a Comcast buying Time Warner Cable is so wrong.

T Roosevelt • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Comcast is interestingly becoming like Monsanto in that if they support something, I can comfortably support whatever option they are against even without having any knowledge of what that might be.

Rod • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Just a preview of the arrogance of our new, soon to be, US internet and cable overlord. Comcast. It already owns the FCC and Congress. Hail and all bow. Everyone open your wallets and spread your cheeks a bit farther.

Rod • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Should have NEVER been allowed to buy NBCU in the first place but when you own Congress and have a former cable lobbyist running the FCC, I wouldn’t expect any different outcome.

CBR • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Comcast is doing a very good job at making everyone hate them more and more.

Imagine – a person looks to getting an internet feed, and looks over the available services. An ISP advertises their services as supplying enough to allow several different streaming video sessions, other e-mail and Facebook or whatever going on – all at the same time. Several providers advertise almost the same, so the person subscribes for a certain amount of data flow.
The person who is now the subscriber finds out that a number of the services they saw in the ads just don’t seem to work well, even though on other carriers, the same services at the same data flow work just fine. Next, this hapless subscriber finds out that, one the provider is throttling the services they have been advertising, and two, are charging the other end a “fee” to provide what the subscriber has already paid for.
And the FCC is stupid enough to buy this line? Present the same issue to even a child, and they call it theft. Time for these folks to be put in jail for the theft of services they have denied to their subscribers.

ms r • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

I don’t want the pipes that bring data into my home to discriminate, and I don’t want billionaires controlling data for power and profit.

kevin smith • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

This uphill fight to save the internet demonstrates how corporate-controlled our country is becoming.

Tonyt • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Comcast seriously needs to be dismantled. I wish the worst for that sleazy slimeball company. It corrupts our politics, and it gouges it’s customers. They don’t deserve to be the gatekeepers to the digital world.

truman2 • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Just as your Utility company cannot dim your lights and force you to pay higher fees to have full 110 Volts, so that All you appliances can work, the internet providers must be classified as a common carrier. Something that has not been talked about at all is that Netflix like customers are already paying much higher prices than individuals for the much higher bandwidth internet pipes that supply their networks.

Comcast EVP David Cohen • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

I am a dick head and I want to overprice your internet I love being fat with money and mass, the reason I want to merge with Time Warner is so I can travel the east coast and watch Netflix from any location for free for days. Please don’t support net neutrality, remember xfinity the power of my aweasome wallet packing with your money.

New net neutrality rules:
It looks like bribery. The only question is not who but how much.

nope • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

lol there is no “first law of engineering.”

However, to your point: your post suggests that we shouldn’t change the internet.

Well guess what? The internet has operated just fine without fast lanes and “paid prioritization.” The internet has operated quite well without ISPs discriminating and controlling data to serve their selfish interests (and please don’t try to tell us otherwise, you’ll make yourself look foolish).

Tough, clear, and enforceable net neutrality laws will PRESERVE the internet as we know it.

ISPs would like to introduce the slow lane, a change that would destroy the internet as we know it (and that is not hyperbole).

Jb • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

Since the FCC in 2005 voted to deregulate broadband, the investment by incumbent telecom-based broadband providers AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink has stagnated, the group said. Since that time, the three carriers have cut tens of thousands of jobs, while revenues have jumped by tens of billions of dollars a year, said Free Press, citing reports the companies filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Under Title II, Bell company investment, jobs and revenues all increased,” Free Press said in a study on broadband investment. “After Title II was removed, jobs disappeared and investment declined, despite soaring revenues and record profits.”

Ron • on May 14, 2014 7:33 am

This is such bullshit, there is no “fast lane”, it all comes through the same wires, what’s happening is they are taking the capacity of the Internet, that they bill their end user base for (ie: you and me), and reselling that to a select few who pay for “priority access”, so essentially the end users just got a massive downgrade, they are going to steal your open bandwidth with the “open internet” regulation and give it the those with “priority access” but you still have to pay for for the bandwidth, this is precisely the opposite of “open internet” and now they get to charge on both ends… pretty much like cable TV. These people are absolute liars, god they are liars.